Cave Sounds

Quail, Margaret

About the work

This piece is about the atmosphere one senses and the sounds that may be heard at the sea as one stands in the mouth of a cave. There is the desolate sound of sea birds, the small waves bubbling over pebbles and the sudden rush of water into the cave. At the end all that can be heard is the distant bird cry.

First Performance: CoMA June 1994

Technical notes

Some fast passages. Some double stopping, but not particularly hard. Fast rhythmic unison passage in which parts move through a series of unusual harmonies. Some unexpected harmonies here and there. Quite extreme changes of tempi and mood from melancholy peacefulness to frenzied turbulence. Atmospheric, descriptive. Conventionally notated.